One Month is All It Takes
by PhantomoftheKitty
Summary: Malfoy is blackmailed into dating a muggle girl for a month. Will he just get it over with and move on, or will he discover something more?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter and am in no way making any money from this work. This is a work of fiction, and any similarity between characters in this story and real life is purely coincidence.

**Summary:** Malfoy is blackmailed into dating a muggle girl for a month. Will he just get it over with and move on, or will he discover something more?

* * *

"Blaise Zabini, this is blackmail!"

"Does it look like I care? I am a Slytherin, after all."

"Does the word 'loyalty' mean anything to you?"

Blaise hesitated for a moment. "No. Nothing. So sorry."

Draco Malfoy snarled. "Give me that picture, NOW, Zabini."

Blaise smirked. "Fine. Take it." He pulled a photograph from his robes, which Draco quickly grabbed and tore into several pieces, letting them flutter to the ground.

"I do have more, you know."

Draco swore colorfully. He paced the room, weighing his options. Succumb to Blaise's blackmail and do what he wanted, or let everyone see the picture. Either option was too horrible to fathom. Finally, running his hand though his hair, he turned back to Blaise.

"What do you want from me?"

Blaise grinned. "I take it you don't want this getting out then?" He pulled another picture from his robes, and Draco grimaced at the sight.

"No, of course not. I'll do anything." A hint of desperation crept into his voice. "I- I mean, within reason, of course. I won't do anything stupid."

"No, you've done enough of that for this year. No… I'll have to find something better than stupid. Something painful."

Blaise lapsed into a long silence. Draco watched as he smiled, frowned, and shook his head repeatedly. Sitting down, Draco recalled the events which had led him into this situation.

It had been an excellent party. To celebrate the downfall of The Dark Lord, the Rvenclaw house had decided to hold a party. Not just any party. A full-out, get completely sloshed, party. Of course, the alcohol was more there to dull the pain of loss than anything else. Nobody really noticed when Draco, Pansy and Gregory showed up. Goyle seemed inconsolable over the loss of Vincent Crabbe. Who could've known that either of them were capable of emotion? They had been best friends for years, though…

Then the Gryffindors had shown up. Those bloody prats! Potter had stood in the center of a crowd of his sycophants, wallowing in the attention. Not realizing that everything was spiked, Potter and his friends had started eating the entire supply of food, faster than the house elves could restock the table. Draco had laughed at Potter when he began to stumble and slur his words.

And then it… well, he wasn't sure how it had happened, but Draco had ended up in a room somewhere, alone with what had seemed to be a very pretty girl. Or maybe she was really ugly, Draco couldn't remember. All he knew is that they had both been very drunk.

"Hey, you… pretty," Was all Draco had been able to say. The girl had giggled at this.

"Yeah"

"Wanna… you know?"

"What?"

"You know… thingy."

"Oh!" The girl fell over in her drunkenness. "Yeah."

Draco had pulled her closer then, dragging her into a very sloppy kiss. There was a bright flash, a shriek, and a laugh. Draco had stumbled backward, dragging the girl with him. He had fallen heavily onto the floor, passing out in the process.

It was hours later that he awoke. Sitting up, Draco was attacked by a pounding headache.

"Shit!"

Draco looked around, his vision swimming before him. Next to him was the girl from last night, lying face down on the floor, her blond hair in a mess. Draco flipped her over, and her hair fell off, revealing short black hair beneath.

A wig! Draco struggled to focus on the face in front of him. Looking the person over, he saw everything you might expect to see on a face: two eyes, a nose, a mouth, and- a scar?!

Draco jumped to his feet, stumbling into the wall behind him. Harry potter! He had KISSED Harry Potter. Bloody fucking Harry Potter! Thank Salazar no one had seen! Or… had they? Draco's eyes fell upon a picture lying on the floor at his feet. He scooped it up and studied it, his eyes growing wide. The picture was a very clear image of Draco kissing a blond-haired Harry Potter. In the corner of the picture was scribbled, "Happy birthday! Blaise"

"It's not my fucking birthday!" shouted Draco, at no one in particular. Harry grunted on the floor. Swearing, Draco dashed out of the room, the picture crumpled in his hand. Blaise would pay for this. No one made a fool out of Draco Malfoy. No one! Dashing into the Slytherin common room, he had stopped dead when he saw Blaise standing in front of him, picture in hand, grinning. And here he was, waiting to find out what his "punishment" would be.

Blaise's voice shook Draco out of his thoughts. "Got it. Draco Malfoy." He grinned evilly. "If you don't want the entire wizarding world to know about this," he waved the picture in Draco's face, "You will…"

"Y-Yes?"

"You will go out with a muggle for a month."

"No! I won't! I'll never-" Draco stopped when he saw Blaise point his wand at the picture, ready to enlarge it and post it on every wall.

"…Fine," Draco spat. "But ONLY a month. And I won't do anything with her."

"Kiss her."

Draco glared at Blaise. "Alright. But that's ALL."

"And you have to go on at least five dates."

"I hate you, you know that?"

"I know."

"As soon as this is over, I'll have you killed."

"Oh?" said Blaise. "I don't think you'll do that. You see, I already set up a precaution against that. If I am hurt, killed, or otherwise maimed on your orders in revenge for this, the picture will automatically be sent to the editors of several well-read tabloids."

Draco huffed, and then brightened slightly as he thought of a way out. "And what if I can't find said Muggle?"

"Don't worry about that. We'll just take a trip down to London and find some tart for you." Draco grimaced.

"Fine. But I won't like it."

"I never said you had to, mate."

"I'm not your mate, traitor." Draco stalked out of the common room and down to the great hall, where everyone would gather to take the train home. Blaise grinned once again as he watched Draco leave.

Life was good when you were evil.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter and am in no way making any money from this work. This is a work of fiction, and any similarity between characters in this story and real life is purely coincidence.

**Summary:** Malfoy is blackmailed into dating a muggle girl for a month. Will he just get it over with and move on, or will he discover something more?

* * *

"Of all the backstabbing traitors in the world..." Draco impatiently tapped his fingers on the shiny tabletop beneath him. As he grumbled, a willowy girl with blonde hair slipped into the seat across from him.

"Hi, I'm Denise. It's nice to meet you." As she spoke, she flashed Draco with a grin bright enough to light up a cave. Knowing there was no easy way out of this,Draco quickly turned on the Mafoy charm.

"My name is Draco. Charmed." He quickly sized up the girl before instantly deciding that she just wouldn't do. She was too bright and perky for one thing. Still, they had four minutes left. He fell naturally to speaking about the weather, and after several minutes had passed, a bell rang and Denise moved to the next table.

Speed-dating. It was preposterous, to say the least. To think that you could get to know someone well enough in five minutes to decide if you wanted to spend your life with them was a silly concept. But then, that wasn't how muggles did it, was it? Muggles seemed to think that one should try many relationships before settling down. It was a waste of time, especially with a shorter life-span than wizards.

Draco looked up in sudden interest as a dark-haired girl gracefully slid into the opposite chair. As this new girl sat down, she looked at Draco meaningfully, then glanced away as if shy. Draco wondered briefly if it was real, or simply an act. Whatever it was, it was intriguing.

"Hi, I would- er, I'm" Draco cleared his throat and shook his head, regaining his composure. "That is, my name is Draco. Pleased to make your acquaintance." The girl giggled shyly at his words, and Draco swallowed hard.

"My name is Belle. I'm pleased to meet you too, Draco." She looked straight at him, and for the first time, Draco noticed the color of her eyes. They were a striking ice blue, and caught his attention for several moments before he blinked forcefully and pulled himself together.

"That's- that's a very pretty name, Belle." Draco's breathe caught in his throat as he spoke the girl's name. What was wrong with him? How could he let this insignificant chit affect him like this? She was just a muggle, nothing more.

Perhaps she would make a good one-month girlfriend, though.

"Belle, could I get your number?"

Belle's eyes met his and they seemed to sparkle with happiness. "Of course, Draco." She scribbled her number onto a napkin and passed it to him. Draco then did the same, just as the bell rang to signal the end of the speed-dating.

The two stood up at precisely the same time, and Draco held out his hand. Belle shook it shyly and smiled at Draco before walking, dance-like, away. Draco watched for several seconds before he realized he'd been holding his breath. He let it out slowly and turned around to see Blaise standing behind him, a smirk on his face.

"Well well well." Blaise shook his head, a wicked smile stretched across his face. "Didn't know you had it in you, mate. I'll admit, she's a pretty little thing."

"Oh, what's it to you? If I have to date a muggle for a month, I might as well pick a good-looking one." Draco's eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here, anyway."

"Me?" Blaise's eyebrows shot up. "I wouldn't think that should matter. But since you asked, I decided to check it out myself. Muggles can be quite inventive in bed. No magic to liven it up, no they have to do more... interesting things."

Draco blushed. Contrary to popular belief, he was actually quite inexperienced in these matters. Oh, he'd slept with Pansy a few times, but it always left something to be desired, and eventually they had agreed that they just weren't compatible. Not that it wasn't nice. No, it was great, but they didn't... connect. After that, he was more uncomfortable jumping into bed with any random girl than he was before. Still, he was curious.

"What kind of... 'interesting things?'" Draco tried to keep his face blank, but he knew by Blaise's expression that his own was shocked and curious.

"Oh, well..." Blaise looked skyward and thought. "Well, they have some interesting positions, and, er... toys. And Bondage."

"That doesn't sound incredibly interesting." Draco frowned. "That sounds exactly how wizards do it."

"Yes, but they have to do it without magic." Blaise bit his lip nervously. "It's really hard to explain, I shouldn't have even mentioned it."

"You don't even know!" Delight bloomed across Draco's face. "Here you are, trying to tell me all about muggle sex, and you don't even know. You bloody liar."

"Of course I know!" Blaise scowled at him. "I- I just don't want to tell you, that's all. Besides, you'll know all about it before the end of this month. You'll be Hogwarts' resident muggle sex-expert."

"Don't even start, Zabini. I would NEVER sleep with a muggle. The very thought is disgusting."

"Suit yourself. Anyway, don't forget to call her. I'll be keeping an eye on you." With a spin, Zabini popped out of existence. Draco looked around wildly to make sure no muggles had seen, but the café was entirely deserted. Draco sighed and spun as well, appearing almost instantly at his home. Sighing, he trudged down the hallway and up the stairs to his bedroom.

Entering his bedroom, he collapsed onto his king-sized bed and sank into the cushiony feather stuffed comforter. Exhausted emotionally, he drifted off into his own thoughts, and before he knew it, he was sleeping soundly.

He was awoken several hours later by his mother's voice floating up the stairs.

"Draco, darling it's dinner time." Draco groaned and rolled over, promptly falling off the bed. He hit the floor hard and the wind was momentarily knocked out of him. Groaning, he pulled himself up and stumbled down the stairs to the awaiting meal.

Downstairs he was greeted by his mother and father, who were dressed oddly formally. Upon seeing him, Draco's mother frowned.

"Draco, please, we have guests." She waved her wand quickly and Draco was suddenly wearing formal clothes.

"Guests?" Draco peered around his mother and saw four people standing around the dining table. The two girls he recognized vaguely from school, but the two older people, the girls' mother and father, he assumed, he didn't know.

"Oh, guests." Draco thought for a moment. "Mother, why do we have guests tonight?"

"Didn't I tell you, honey? The Greengrasses are visiting us for a couple days. Please make an effort to be presentable."

"Of course I will, mother. But why are they staying here?"

"We'll speak more later, Draco. We need to entertain our guests."

The three of them filed quietly into the dining room. They stood at their usual places, Malfoy Sr. at the head of the table.

"My friends, my guests, I welcome you into my home with open arms. Please, be seated and eat your fill."

In unison, the seven people sat down, just as many dishes of food appeared before them. Draco smiled at the delicious feast before him. They may not have had the hundreds of house elves that Hogwarts had, but they had enough to whip up a meal like this in no time at all. He loaded up his plate with food and began to delicately eat his meal.

He was halfway through dinner when he noticed the girl across from him glancing at him quite often. She had a sly little smile toying about her features, and Draco wondered what it was that no one had bothered to tell him. He didn't have long to wait.

"My dear guests and family," Malfoy Sr. had risen from his seat at the head of the table and was raising his goblet high into the air. "I would like to propose a toast. To the happy betrothal of Astoria Greengrass to my son, Draco Malfoy." Everyone except Draco and the younger of the two girls raised their goblets in imitation of Lucius.

Draco nearly choked on his food, but managed to keep his cool. So this was what all this was about, then. He knew that he would be betrothed sooner or later, but he didn't know when or to whom. He glanced at the younger of the two girls, who was blushing furiously. She wasn't too bad looking, he decided. At least he had an excuse not to date that muggle.

But no. Blaise was not easily deterred. He would never accept this as an excuse. If Draco didn't come up with a better reason why not to date this girl, he was stuck. Stuck dating a muggle.

It was only a month, though, right? How bad could it be?

Draco Malfoy was about to find out.

* * *

To Be Continued…

9/10/08


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